HAMM PREPS ECLIPSE FINALIST DAYOUTOFTHEOFFICE FOR 3-YEAR-OLD DEBUT

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Like the majority of Thoroughbred trainers, Tampa Bay Downs conditioner Tim Hamm is a realist. And he knows it is unlikely his filly Dayoutoftheoffice will be announced as the Eclipse Award Champion 2-Year-Old Filly on Thursday after her second-place finish to Vequist in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.

After her dazzling 5-furlong breeze in 1:01 today at Tampa Bay Downs, Hamm expects Dayoutoftheoffice to earn another shot against Vequist in the near future. Dayoutoftheoffice had breezed 4 furlongs a week earlier in 49 3/5 seconds in her first workout of 2021.

“She’s coming back incredibly well. Her work today (with exercise rider Alfredo Clemente aboard) was awesome,” Hamm said. “She just did it real easy and she galloped out super strong. She is way ahead of schedule, and it’s a good feeling that we can handle her how we want and have her plenty fit for whatever race we choose (as her 3-year-old debut).”

Hamm said Dayoutoftheoffice will likely make her first 3-year-old start on either Feb. 27 in the Grade II Davona Dale at Gulfstream or on March 6 in the Grade III Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park. “We nominated her to the Suncoast (on Feb. 6 at Tampa Bay Downs), but that is probably a little too quick,” he said. Hamm added that the Grade I, $1.25-million Longines Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs is in his plans for the Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief.

Although Dayoutoftheoffice is 1-1 against Vequist, having beaten her in the Grade I Frizette Stakes on Oct. 10 at Belmont, and had a better record last year – three victories from four starts, with the lone second in the Juvenile Fillies, compared to Vequist’s two victories and two seconds – Eclipse voters have traditionally given extra weight to winning a Breeders’ Cup race.

“Just being nominated is great. It says you had one of the best 2-year-old fillies in the country,” said Hamm, who also owns Dayoutoftheoffice under his Blazing Meadows Farm banner in partnership with Siena Farm. “I’d love to say we have a chance, but if you’re voting, you’re going to see who won on championship day” (at the Breeders’ Cup).

The third nominee in the 2-Year-Old Filly category is Aunt Pearl, whose 3-for-3 record includes a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (voters have been known to lean toward dirt horses when push comes to shove, but you never know).

The 50th Eclipse Awards Ceremony honoring the sport’s 2020 champions will be held Thursday as a virtual event, with portions hosted from Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky. Winners in 17 equine and human categories will be announced in a program streamed live on multiple outlets, including TVG and Racetrack Television Network, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (see below for the finalists).

Hamm had a previous brush with Eclipse Award glory, having sold Wait a While as an unraced 2-year-old in 2005 after purchasing her the previous year as a yearling. She was part of his pin hooking program and reaped a $210,000 profit. In 2006, Wait a While earned the Eclipse as Champion 3-Year-Old Filly for owner Arindel and trainer Todd Pletcher.

“We breed them, raise them, sell them and race them. It is all part of our plan,” Hamm said.

Here are the Eclipse Award finalists (in alphabetical order) in each category:

Horse of the Year: Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl

2-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality, Fire At Will, Jackie’s Warrior

2-Year-Old Filly: Aunt Pearl, Dayoutoftheoffice, Vequist

3-Year-Old Male: Authentic, Nadal, Tiz the Law

3-Year-Old Filly: Gamine, Shedaresthedevil, Swiss Skydiver

Older Dirt Male: Improbable, Maximum Security, Vekoma

Older Dirt Female: Midnight Bisou, Monomoy Girl, Serengeti Empress

Male Sprinter: Vekoma, Volatile, Whitmore

Female Sprinter: Gamine, Glass Slippers, Serengeti Empress

Male Turf Horse: Channel Maker, Order of Australia, Zulu Alpha

Female Turf horse: Audarya, Rushing Fall, Tarnawa

Steeplechase Horse: Moscato, Rashaan, Snap Decision

Owner: Godolphin, Klaravich Stables, and the partnership of Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm

Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, Brad Cox

Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr., Joel Rosario, John Velazquez

Apprentice Jockey: Luis Cardenas, Yarmarie Correa, Alexander Crispin

Around the oval. Jockey Daniel Centeno and trainer Gerald Bennett combined to win today’s fourth and fifth races. The fourth, on the turf, went to Successful Legacy, a 3-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by Mr. Pug, LLC and J.P.G. 2, LLC. Centeno and Bennett added the fifth with Lady Breanna, a 6-year-old mare bred in Florida by her owner, J J Brevan Stable. Lady Breanna is 3-for-3 at the meeting.

Jockey Jose Batista and trainer Luis Carvajal, Jr., also combined for two victories. They won the third race with 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding V.I.P. Who, owned by breeders Sam E. Stevens and Sammy L. Stevens. Batista and Carvajal also found the winner’s circle after the eighth on the turf with Disco’s Bridge, a 4-year-old gelding bred and owned by Patricia A. Generazio.

Antonio Gallardo rode two winners today, raising his career total to 1,997. Gallardo won the sixth race on the turf on Lower for Longer, a 3-year-old filly owned by Klaravich Stables and trained by Chad Brown. Gallardo’s second victory came in the ninth and final race on the turf with Kramden, a 4-year-old gelding who took the rider, owners Rocky Top Racing Stable and James Ventura and trainer Mark Casse to the moon (and back).

Thoroughbred racing continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:42 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs currently races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule. The track is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.